The Future of Revolution: Jasper Bernes on Communism from the Paris Commune to George Floyd

Buy the Book: https://www.versobooks.com/products/977-the-future-of-revolution?srsltid=AfmBOopbQABhI9H6efsVC8cJLfIxh2LNXMqxpppbp8xUVVnxNMtAyEPc How might a twenty-first-century revolution against class society succeed?Communism comes from the future, but its hopes haunt our past. Reading revolutionary history from the Paris Commune to the George Floyd Uprising by the light of communist theory, from Marx to C. L. R. James, The Future of Revolution illuminates the possibilities for overcoming class society in the twenty-first century.When Marx wrote that the Paris Commune of 1871 showed that “the working class cannot simply lay hold of the ready-made state machinery, and wield it for its own purposes,” he identified a principle that will remain true as long as capitalism and its class antagonism persist. Historical revolutions reveal essential features of our communist horizon, which would-be revolutionaries, then as now, must negotiate one way or another. In chapters that move from a critical history of the workers’ council to a reading of Marx’s theory of value as an inverted description of communism, Jasper Bernes synthesizes from a history of failure the key criteria for success. He defines for our present moment the urgent mission of the world proletariat.Support the showSupport the podcast:AHRCCurrent classes at Acid Horizon Research Commons (AHRC): acidhorizonresearchcommons.comAHRC Course Archive: https://www.acidhorizonpodcast.com/ahrc-course-archivesSubmit your course proposal: [email protected] LinksWebsite: https://www.acidhorizonpodcast.com/Linktree: https://linktr.ee/acidhorizonAcid Horizon on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/acidhorizonpodcastBoycott Watkins Media: https://xenogothic.com/2025/03/17/boycott-watkins-statement/Subscribe to us on your favorite podcast: https://pod.link/1512615438Merch: http://www.crit-drip.comSubscribe to us on your favorite podcast platform: https://pod.link/1512615438LEPHT HAND: https://www.patreon.com/LEPHTHANDHappy Hour at Hippel's (Adam’s blog): https://happyhourathippels.wordpress.com​Split Infinities (Craig’s Substack): https://splitinfinities.substack.com/​Music: https://sereptie.bandcamp.com/ and https://thecominginsurrection.bandcamp.com/